Chapter 32

He just stared at Bucky whose smile vanished and he seemed nervous. "I hope it's okay I'm here?" He turned around to Natasha. "You said he would be happy."

Natasha shook the pillow and put it back on the bed. "Give him a minute. He's almost one hundred, his brain's not that fast anymore."

"Bucky is a year older than me." He blurted out and Bucky turned to face him again. He finally got out of his shock and walked over to Bucky and hugged him.

"How are you here now?"

"I couldn't run anymore." Bucky simply said when they let go of each other.

He had been in over 25 countries in the last months to find him and then Bucky showed up at his door? It didn't matter now. Bucky was here and safe and it looked like he remembered.

"It's so good to see you again." He was close to crying and Bucky didn't look any better.

"You too, punk. You too."

Natasha walked past by them. "I'm gonna go get some food so you two can cry your man tears without being embarrassed." She gave him a small smile and left the room.

"One minute." He said to Bucky and followed Natasha. She was already in the hallway slipping into shoes and he picked the flowers up from the dresser where he threw it on when he got home.

"I am so sorry for treating you so badly in the last weeks." He gave her the flowers and she smelled them. "I shouldn't have let my anger about not finding Bucky out on you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I hope you're in a better mood now that he's here?"

He nodded and tilted her head up to kiss her deeply. "I love you, Natasha."

"I love you, too."

She gave him one last peck before she grabbed her wallet and left to get take out and to give him and Bucky some alone time.

He got back to the guest room where Bucky was sitting on the edge of the bed and readjusting the glove on his metal hand. His hair was almost to his shoulders and he had a beard. He didn't look like the Bucky Barnes he knew at all but it was still his Bucky.

"I can't believe you're really here, Bucky." He sat down next to him on the bed. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Bucky sighed and looked at him. "I know. Sometimes you got really close to me but I wasn't ready. I remembered fractments of you but it wasn't enough to come back."

"I would ha-"

"I know. But my mind was a mess and I didn't want to put you in any danger. I almost killed you!" He was agitated. "I did so many horrible things!"

He grabbed his arm to make him look at him. "That wasn't your fault! They made you do those things!"

"I'm sorry for DC." Bucky said and then had a little smile on his face. "Your girl said that if I do that to you again she would put a bullet in my head. I like her."

He wanted to apologize for Nat but he had wanted to kill the guy who shot her in Philadelphia as well and Bucky also shot her. "If you shoot Nat again, we're gonna have a problem!"

Bucky seemed confused. "You shot her in the shoulder in DC and a few years ago in Odessa." He explained to him.

"Oh god. I'm sorry. And she just lets me into your apartment?!"

Steve smirked. "She's the Black Widow. If you tried something she would have put you into the ground."

"I can't believe you have a girlfriend!" Bucky grinned at him.

He shoved his shoulder. "Come on!"

"I mean Natasha looks like a supermodel and she goes for you? The annoying punk who starts fights every five minutes?"

"Thanks a lot." He replied dryly. "I know that she's out of my league."

"I'm happy for you that you found someone. She seems like a nice girl."

"She's the best." He said dreamily and Bucky grinned.

"How are you, Bucky?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I have good and bad days. The programming disappeared over time but I still don't remember everything about my life before HYDRA. But I think that I'm in control now and not him."

He thought about Tony and his offer to help Bucky despite the Winter Soldier killing his parents. "I know someone who can help you. Who you can trust. We'll talk to him tomorrow."

Bucky didn't really want to tell him what he did in the last ten months and he knew that he had to accept that. Steve was just thankful that Bucky was finally home and could heal.

Natasha was longer gone than a normal run for food would take but he knew that she was giving them time to talk.

"Are you gonna stay?" He asked him hesitantly. There was a part of him that expected Bucky to get up and run.

"I don't know. I don't want to cause you and your girlfriend any trouble. I heard about what happened in Sokovia. Harbouring a criminal probably doesn't help your Avengers."

"You're not a criminal!"

Bucky laughed dryly. "Are you sure about that?"

It was scary how much Bucky reminded him of Nat in that moment, They were both victims but blaming themselves for what they were forced to do.

He didn't know how much Natasha might have told Bucky and he didn't want to cross any boundaries. "Nat has been through something familiar. You should talk to her about it."

Bucky nodded. "Yeah, I read those files she dumped on the internet when SHIELD fell."

Natasha came thirty minutes later home with two bags of food and another bag from CVS. She got them burgers, fries and milkshakes.

"I got you some toiletries and a razor. And a scissor if you wanna cut your hair, Bucky." She handed Bucky the bag and he nodded his thanks.

They ate on the floor in the living room and Bucky wanted to know how he and Nat got together and how long they were a couple.

"One year since last Sunday." Nat said between bites.

Fuck! He froze. He was in Argentina and completely forgot about it. And then he came home and treated her like an ass last night. She probably wanted to celebrate with him and he just snapped at her.

"Natasha." He whispered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She opened her mouth to say something but Buck beat her to it. "You forgot your anniversary?! Your mother is rolling in her grave right now!"

He was surprised that Natasha didn't break up with him. "I am so so sorry! Tell me how to make it up to you and I'll do it!"

She looked briefly at Bucky and then at him. "We'll talk about it later."

She looked back at Bucky and asked him if he wanted her to cut his hair because he looked like a hobo. She acted like nothing happened but he knew that he hurt her deeply. How could he forget their one year anniversary? He didn't even have a gift for her because he completely forgot it. He always thought that if he had a girlfriend one day he would treat her like a queen. He saw how men treated their girlfriends and he always assumed he would make a better boyfriend. But he was just as worse as the rest of them.

After dinner Natasha went with Bucky to the bathroom and cut his hair. He cleaned up in the meantime and tried his best not to eavesdrop on them. Bucky would probably offer Nat to beat him up for forgetting their anniversary.

He could hear laughter out of the bathroom and then a few minutes later they bot came out. Bucky's hair was now a little bit longer than it used to be back in the day and his beard was trimmed. He had to admit that Bucky looked really good and that Nat was really talented at cutting hair.

Bucky smiled at him. "How do I look?"

"Good but you already knew that." He rolled his eyes at his best friend. He still couldn't really believe that Bucky was here and would hopefully stay for good.

Natasha pulled her phone out of her pocket. "I'll text him to ask if he wants to help us." She said to Bucky who nodded.

"Thanks again,Nat."

Bucky called Natasha Nat and she let him? He was the only one who called her that. Clint called her Tasha and the rest Natasha or Romanoff. But Bucky probably didn't know that and just thought that was her nickname.

"Who are you texting? Tony?"

She shook her head while typing on her phone. "No. I have a friend who's a lawyer here in New York and he might help us to sort out Bucky's legal status. As long as that isn't handled, I don't think he should be seen in public or be in contact with the other Avengers." She looked up from her phone. "Tony barely avoided getting put on trial."

She was right. There were probably a lot of people who wanted the Winter Soldier behind bars and Tony was still working on clearing his name after Ultron. He couldn't help them right now. Tony couldn't be affiliated with a wanted criminal.

Nat's phone buzzed. "He'll meet me tomorrow at his law firm in Hell's Kitchen. I'll talk to him and present your case." She said to Bucky.

"Thank you so much for that!" He smiled at her briefly and she returned it.

"I know the place you're in right now. I had SHIELD to deal with that stuff but since it's gone we have to clear your name on our own."

They called it a night shortly after and Bucky went to the guest room but not without giving him a stern look and then nodding his head in Nat's direction. Yeah he already knew that he had some making up to do.

Nat was in the bathroom getting ready for bed and he sat on the edge of the bathtube and watched her put moisturizer on her face.

"Natasha"

He could see in the mirror that she was looking at him. She didn't say anything but nodded for him to continue.

"I'm sorry that I forgot our anniversary. And on top of that I was a dick to you in the last few weeks. I am truly sorry for that. I love you so much and then I hurt you. That's not okay. I am so sorry,Nat."

She pulled her shirt over her head and removed her bra and he tried his best to not get aroused at the sight. He realized in that moment that they hadn't had sex in at least two weeks. She bottoned her pyjama top up and then turned around to face him.

"I don't know how to act here, Steve." She sighed and changed into her sleeping shorts.

"What do you mean?"

She sat next to him on the bathtub."Am I allowed to get angry? Is it okay for me to be hurt?" She sighed and pulled her hair out of her ponytail. " We are in a very unique situation. It's not like you're coming home drunk or cheating on me and that's why you forgot it or were in a bad mood. You were looking for your best friend who you thought was dead for seventy years and was actually tortured by Nazis. Giving these circumstances I don't know if I get to be hurt or would that just make me selfish?"

He wanted to touch her but he wasn't sure if she was okay with it. "You have every right to be angry with me. Yes, the thing with Bucky is unique and tragic but that didn't make it okay for me to treat you like that." He brushed his pinky finger against hers. "I promise I'll be a better boyfriend from now on."

She nodded and kissed his cheek. " I forgive you." She got up from the bathtub. "I'll meet you in the bedroom?" She said it without lowering her voice and he knew that she just wanted to sleep tonight. He nodded and got ready for bed.

Natasha was sitting against the headboard and reading something on her tablet. She put it on her nightstand when he came into bed and to his relief she curled herself around him.

"How are you with Bucky being here?"

"I can't really believe that after all these countless searches he just showed up at our door. What did he say by the way when he was at the door?"

"He just asked if Steve Rogers lived here and when you would be back. He didn't want to come in at first but I could persuade him."

He smiled. Natasha always got her way. "Thank you for letting him stay here, Nat."

"Where else was he supposed to go?" She rubbed her cheek against his chest. "And you would have never forgiven me if I sent him away."

He kissed the top of her head. "There is nothing you could do that I wouldn't forgive. I know that you do everything for a reason and I trust you enough to know that you know what you're doing."

"So I guess we can forget sex for a while." She mumbled against his chest.

"What?" Didn't she want to sleep with him anymore because of what happened? Well, he couldn't begrudge her for that.

"Super soldier hearing?!" She chuckled and rubbed her leg over his groin. "I'm sure that he would hear us when we're making love."

He groaned at her movements and stopped her leg with his hand. "Then stop that." He rolled her onto her back. "Tell you what. Once Bucky is settle in, you and I take a trip to Paris. I hear it's very romantic." He winked at her and kissed his way down her body.

Natasha bit into her hand to muffle her sounds while he buried his face between her thighs. He smirked at her attempts to keep quiet but he had the same problem when he sank into her.

He really hoped that Bucky was already asleep or that his enhanced hearing wasn't as good as his own. He owed his girl some pleasure.

FYI: Bucky and Natasha have no shared history in this story